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Nurse's Office Ministry
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Counseling This
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Group Program at St. Francis Starting Soon! The group-counseling program at St. Francis High School is designed to meet the needs of all of our students. This year we again offer several groups. Group sizes are limited and registration is required. Please talk with your child about these groups. If you feel your child might profit from one of these groups or you would like to learn more about them,please contact Mrs. Rupp at extension 1104 or stop by in the Guidance & Counseling Department. The groups we offer this semester are listed below: I: Short-term Groups for Freshmen and Transfer Students : these groups are intended to help students with the adjustment to a new school setting. II: Ongoing Support Groups: these groups are intended for children who are dealing with difficult situations in their families, such as parents’ divorce, family conflict, etc. They are also intended for students who would like to work on personal issues such as depression, self-esteem, and social isolation. Ms. Rupp will be running this group, which will meet once a week throughout the school year. III: Grief Group : this group is intended for students who have experienced a significant loss in their lives (death of a relative or friend). Ms. Rupp will be running this group, which will also meet once a week throughout the school year. Top Short Term Freshman Group Offered again during first semester! Sign Up Now! As in previous years, a short term freshman group will be offered during the first semester. Starting at a new school can be a difficult time in a young person’s life. The excitement of “starting new” is mixed with the sadness of leaving familiar territory. Students may be wondering: “What will it be like? Will I be accepted? Will I be successful? What study skills & test taking skills do I need”. Fears of change can be overwhelming for some young people. However, with encouragement, this transition can be a positive new start. For all of the above reasons, the Guidance & Counseling Department will again offer the optional six-week group for freshman. This group will meet once a week during rotating class periods. The group, run by counselors Mrs. Rupp and Ms. Sullivan, will offer freshmen the opportunity to meet new people, to learn more about St. Francis and ask questions in a small, non-threatening environment. The second component to the freshman group will be to help students work on study skills and test taking techniques. The group will start in the first week of September. Group size is limited and registration is required. Contact Info: If you would like more information on this group or on any of the other support groups available at St. Francis, contact Mrs. Rupp at ext 1104 or email at arupp@sfhsnet.org. Top Note that the alphabet division for counselors has changed from last year. It is listed below. Keep in mind that as a small school we can be flexible. If a student wants to remain with the same guidance counselor as in previous years, he or she is free to do so.
Top Several Parent Information Programs Scheduled for 2012-2013
Top Revolution Prep offers on site ACT preparation course During this school year St. Francis will host an on-campus ACT preparation course that is offered by Revolution Prep. Revolution Prep is the leading test prep company in the state of California, surpassing Princeton Review and Kaplan in total enrollment. Revolution Prep has now expanded to other metropolitan areas, such as Atlanta, Washington D.C., Minneapolis, and Chicago. The rising success of Revolution Prep is attributed to their personal attention, strong instruction, attention to critical reading and problem solving, excellent web resources, and affordability. The course includes five full length practice tests. Because Revolution Prep believes that test preparation should be available to all students, they offer generous discounts to students who need scholarship assistance in order to take the course. Students who need financial assistance for a course should complete the financial aid form which is available on the Revolution Prep webiste. The financial aid application is due a few weeks before the start of the course so students seeking a course scholarship should apply for it as soon as possible. To make test preparation more convenient for our students, courses will be offered at St. Francis on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 PM to 6 PM in room 1115. On days when students take practice tests the course runs until 7 PM. The fall course starts on September 18 and leads up to the October 27 exam. The winter course will start on December 11 and lead up to the February 9 exam. Classes during the winter course will not meet during the week of final exams or Christmas vacation. There will also be a spring course that starts on February 26 to prepare students for the April 13 test. Classes during the spring course will not meet during spring break. A direct mailing from Revolution Prep will be sent to current juniors and seniors regarding these courses. To register for the course or inquire about course scholarships, students should call (877) 738-7737 or go to www.revolutionprep.com. St. Francis does not specifically endorse any particular test preparation program or only this program. There are many good options available to students, a number of which are listed on our Guidance webpage. St. Francis encourages students and parents to research several different programs and compare their philosophies, costs, and scheduling. Then select the one that is the best fit for the student. Top Several college fairs will be held in the area this fall
Top How to Process a College Application As seniors begin the college application process it is important that students and parents review procedures for completing the application and submission of letters and transcripts. Mrs. Rigney will meet with all seniors in English class in last August and give each student a copy of the 2012 College Planning Guide. The essential parts of this document can be found in the sidebar menu of the St. Francis Student Services webpage. The URL for this site is the following:
Top Steps a senior student must complete before faculty can send documents to colleges Because St. Francis is now using the Naviance electronic documents to transmit letters, forms and transcripts to colleges, the students must first complete certain tasks or the faculty cannot complete the student request. (Note: the student must complete these steps. Parents logged into Naviance as the parent cannot complete these specific tasks). STUDENTS: DO NOT REQUEST ANY LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION OR TRANSCRIPT REQUEST FORMS UNTIL YOU DO THE FOLLOWING
Top What you need to know about applying to the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign—important changes for this year’s application If a student is planning to apply to the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, there is an important change in the U of I application process that the student must complete. The following message tells students what they must do. U of I does not require that St. Francis send an official transcript at the time of your application. So, unlike other colleges, you don't need to give Mrs. Rigney a transcript release form for U of I when you first apply. HOWEVER, U of I will ask you to complete the SELF-REPORTED ACADEMIC RECORD (SRAR) as an addition to your student application. To do this, you must print out a copy of your transcript from your STI student portal and look at that as you input and recreate your transcript in the SRAR. Make sure that the information that you are entering for the SRAR is accurate. You should allow around 30 minutes for the completion of the SRAR. You cannot begin the SRAR until you have also started the U of I application and the university recommends that you complete the SRAR after you have completed and submitted your application. Then if you are accepted to U of I and decide to go there, you will need to ask St. Francis to send an official transcript in the spring to verify that what is on your SRAR is correct. For further directions on the SRAR go to the U of I admissions site/Freshman Application Procedures/Necessary Items to Complete Your Application. When you have applied to U of I, mark in your Naviance application list that you have completed the application. Also note that U of I will NOT read letters of recommendation so do not request them for U of I. U of I has a November 1 priority deadline which means that your application and ACT/SAT scores must be received and on file by that date to have the best chance for admission. Remember, YOU must have ACT/SAT send your official test scores to your colleges. Neither Mrs. Rigney nor St. Francis can do that for you. Go to your account with ACT or College Board and go to Send Scores. Also, we no longer put any ACT or SAT scores on your transcript. If you apply to a more competitive college or program within the university and do not qualify for that program but are considered admissible to the university, you will be given an alternate offer, usually to the Division of General Studies. You may appeal an admission decision but must do so in writing using the document found at www.admissions.illinois.edu/pdf/appeal.pdf. Only one appeal will be accepted and the decision is final. Denial decisions are very rarely reversed and require new and compelling information not already included in the application in order to be successful. U of I includes a question on the application in regards to whether either of the student’s parents attended the U of I. Legacy will be considered in the process but it will not make up for significant academic criteria. Ethnicity will be a factor if the student is from an underrepresented minority group such African-American, Hispanic/Latino, or American Indian. Also, the U of I does not allow students to drop core courses at the semester from the senior schedule without approval from the university. Students who drop courses or move from honors courses to regular level courses at the mid-year point can risk having their acceptances retracted by U of I when the university receives the student’s final transcript in June. Because academic rigor of your senior schedule is a factor in the admissions decision, the U of I expects students to maintain enrollment in those courses and maintain solid academic performance in those courses throughout second semester of the senior year. Students or parents who have additional questions about the U of I admission process should contact Mrs. Rigney or contact the U of I admissions office. Top Naviance Family Connection provides excellent support for College Planning at http://connection.naviance.com Students and parents are strongly urged to use the Naviance Family Connection college planning tool. St. Francis has licensing to use this web based program which provides assistance in all areas of the college search and application process. Naviance will also be used by St. Francis school personnel to send electronic letters, forms, and transcripts to colleges. All current students were shown how to use the program during the 2011-2012 school year. Students should log on using the user names and passwords they created when first introduced to Naviance. Parents of current seniors were emailed access codes last winter, but if they have not yet created a user name and password and have lost the access code, they may contact Mrs. Ellis at ext. 1142 to obtain the access code again. Mrs. Rigney will review the program with seniors in September and provide more training in the program for current juniors later this fall. If underclassmen or their parents wish to use the program, they may obtain the access code by contacting Mrs. Ellis. The Naviance program already has password protected student information loaded into the system. When a student or parent logs onto the student account, he or she can complete a college search, create a resume, formulate a list of potential colleges, and check the college visit calendar. By clicking on acceptance history, scatter grams, college match, and college compare, the student can compare his or her academic credentials to the college’s acceptance history for St. Francis students from the class of 2006 through 2012. Once the student has applied to a college, the student can track when his or her transcript and recommendations were sent by St. Francis. Since St. Francis now uses the Naviance e-Docs program to send letters, forms and transcripts via Naviance and Docufide. Because of this change, it is essential that students and parents use the Family Connection by Naviance. The Naviance program has many other great features and is an indispensable tool in the college search and application process. If students or parents have questions or problems in using the program, contact Mrs. Rigney, College Counselor, at ext. 1105. Top Deadlines are approaching for seniors who need to take or retake their ACT and SAT tests. Parents who wish to stay on top of ACT and SAT deadlines should check the Junior and Senior College Information Dates and Deadlines flyer which was sent to all families in the summer mailing. All ACT and SAT test dates and registration deadlines are listed there. These dates are also listed on the Guidance and Counseling page of the St. Francis website. The first ACT test this fall will take place on September 8. If a student misses the late registration deadline of August 24, students can still do a walk-in/stand-by registration, but keep in mind that special procedures and extra charges are involved. The next ACT this year will take place on October 27 with a late registration deadline of October 5. If necessary, seniors can also take the December 8 ACT. Students should register for tests at www.act.org. The first SAT offered this fall will be held on October 6 with a registration deadline of September 21. The next SAT after that is November 3. Seniors may also take the December 1 SAT. In addition, seniors who are applying to some highly selective colleges may be required to take the SAT Subject Tests which are offered on the same dates as the regular SAT. Students may register online at www.collegeboard.com. Junior students usually begin testing with the December, January or February test dates. It is also important that juniors plan ahead to avoid conflicts with spring sports and activities. Also, all juniors should plan on taking the ACT or SAT at least two times before the end of junior year. Since many colleges require that students take the ACT with Writing, the guidance department strongly recommends a junior always take the Writing section of the ACT (each time he or she takes the test). For details on ACT test content and requirements, students should pick up the booklet, Preparing for the ACT, which is available in the Student Services area. Students may also visit the testing company websites for more information. ACT: www.act.org SAT : www.collegeboard.org The St. Francis High School Code is 144-383. Top Important new guidelines for ACT and SAT Registration and Identification The following enhancements have been implemented by ACT for the 2012-2013 testing cycle in order to safeguard a level playing field for all test takers and help ensure the continued integrity of ACT score results. Very similar policies have also been implemented for the SAT and SAT Subject Tests.
Top Notify Counselors of Your Child’s Special Needs If you are a parent of an incoming freshman or transfer student who has special needs or learning problems, we encourage you to contact your child’s counselor to discuss your child’s individual needs and determine what specific information you would like to have communicated to teachers. If information on your child’s learning needs should have been forwarded from the child’s elementary school or junior high school, you may want to check with your child’s counselor to make sure this information was, in fact, sent to St. Francis. To explore this further, please contact Ms. Mary Kay Sullivan at ext. 1108. Top Has your child had a very good experience when working with a particular tutor? If so, contact the Guidance and Counseling Department with the name and phone number of the tutor. We are always seeking additional tutors to add to our referral list. If you are seeking a professional tutor the Guidance Counselors can provide a short list of individual tutors, all of whom have passed a criminal background check. We can also provide a list of tutoring centers in the western suburbs. Top Help your child become more responsible and organized this school year Your child forgot his homework, so he wants you to drive it to school. He has not completed his English paper and asks you to let him stay home from school until he finishes it. Sound familiar? Teens aren’t always as responsible as we would like. Starting this school year, you can help your child develop the responsibilities he will need for the rest of his life. Here are some tips:
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